Still a little shocked at how linear the game is until the optional areas open up later (not that this is a bad thing in and of itself). You are given one choice at a certain point point between the Catacombs of Carthus and the Cathedral of the Deep, and that's pretty much it til you're well you've defeated at least 3 lords.
there's definitely a path that you're expected to follow, but I think that you can go to the castle early which has a couple branches of its own and a hidden area and access to another hidden area, and there's another hidden area before you get to the boreal valley.
@jjstraka34 New players are definitely corralled, but we knew from the previews this was going to be the most accessible DS yet. More advanced players can choose to go for Lothric or Abyss Watchers in the beginning. After Farron Keep you can choose to go for Yhorm or Aldrich. Add to this the optional areas and it's not so bad. I would like more freedom though for sure.
So here's a fun fact....the room right before the Smouldering Lake bonfire, there is a Fire Demon, and a conspicuous chest. I figured the Demon wouldn't aggro til I hopped down in the arena, and headed over and hit the chest, like any smart Souls players would. Long story short, the demon does aggro, so I ran for the door I knew it couldn't get through. But that's not the fun part....the fun part is that the Mimic killed the Demon. Demolished it actually, it wasn't even a competitive fight. It then went back to it's spot and assumed it's disguise.
Speaking of progress if anyone wants multiplayer tomorrow I'd like to try a password session.
I'd join you if you'd like. It would be nice to revisit some bosses in a less nightmarish way than soloing. Though I guess it depends on your timezone and if we play on the same platform (ps4 for me).
@jjstraka34 Same thing happened in my game You're making good progress now.
Speaking of progress if anyone wants multiplayer tomorrow I'd like to try a password session.
I have a half day of work tomorrow but I'll be back home by 3:30 Central time in the US....
The Catacombs weren't too bad thus far (still waiting on the boss for the moment). The cloaked enemies down there do insane bleed damage, and it's highly advisable to take them out as quick as possible, but they are essentially skeleton ninjas. Other than that, the rest of it takes some trial and error, but it was slightly less than I was expecting. The pinwheels were easy to spot and no danger. A couple rats, some tedious slimes, and a couple balls that are ridiculously easy to avoid compared to the boulders in Sen's. I died my fair share, but ultimately, it's all a little same-ish.
In the first game, you could encounter the skeletons when you were not at all ready for them (in fact I'd venture to guess the majority of players did this, simply because the route to the Burg is not obvious). And the fact that RPGs over history have said "skeletons, pffft, whatever" (though this isn't true in all cases, and Dark Souls harkens back to those classics). But here, you are more than ready for them, though I am still confused as to how I was frequently parried by a headless skeleton with one arm....
reminds me of something I wanted to ask. What happens if I die, then equip a ring of sacrifice and die again. Is my original puddle of souls still up, or are they gone too?
Well pc finally fixed yesterday afternoon and I'm just about 10 hrs into my pyro run now. Just reached the Farro dudes. Running a pyro has made the most of the early game a bit of a joke, I even had fun in the swamp and made a point of killing all the cleric beast looking things.
Swamp tip use dual daggers and quick step through rough terrain, makes life so much easier.
Also killed good ol Kirk and got the thorn set. Man I missed this armour in DS2, the fashion is real and roll killing has got to be the most fun thing in the game XD
Well pc finally fixed yesterday afternoon and I'm just about 10 hrs into my pyro run now. Just reached the Farro dudes. Running a pyro has made the most of the early game a bit of a joke, I even had fun in the swamp and made a point of killing all the cleric beast looking things.
Swamp tip use dual daggers and quick step through rough terrain, makes life so much easier.
Also killed good ol Kirk and got the thorn set. Man I missed this armour in DS2, the fashion is real and roll killing has got to be the most fun thing in the game XD
For whatever reasons those Cleric Beast-ish Shamans just freak the hell out of me. The way they stand up perfectly straight, just gives me the creeps....though they have relatively low health. What creatures are the stuff of nightmares for you guys??
reminds me of something I wanted to ask. What happens if I die, then equip a ring of sacrifice and die again. Is my original puddle of souls still up, or are they gone too?
Ashamed to admit that after 5 tries I just ran down the bridge to the Boreal Valley and avoided the beast. I don't think it's hyperbole to say he is harder than the majority of boss fights up to that point. His bites take out 60% of your health, and he can turn his head and bite you while circling or rolling. If there is a flaw here so far, it's that there is rarely ever a situation where doing as much damage as possible as quick as possible is worse than playing defensively....
Ultimately, I feel like that's a enemy that seems dropped in from Bloodborne, and doesn't translate to Souls evade mechanics. I could dash around this guy all day, but rolling is another ballgame, and his attacks ignore the shield. As a matter of fact, there is a metric tons of attacks in this game that negate shields even at full stamina, so much so that half the time I have it out I don't even know why....
I can see your problem with rolling around that guy.
DS1&2 had a fairly free roll system. It didn't REALLY matter which direction you rolled, so long as your timing was right.
DS3 introduced a lot more attacks that have lingering hit boxes, so the direction you roll is far more important.
Normally I roll toward the guy and slightly to my right, but with this guy I found it much more effective to roll straight backwards, timing for his two strikes so that I was out of the hit box before the invincibility frames ran out. Then he was usually paused long enough to get a hit in.
Rolling towards the attack has always been the optimal strategy. A secret technique for those dog fellows is to give them a few sharp blows to the snout. They've got a weakpoint there, so they will try to keep their head away from you. They will fall backwards and you can then do a visceral attack/riposte on them. I don't know what its called, the big stabbing thing you can do to bosses and some enemies sometimes.
The croco dog? I always roll under them, right when they try to bite, so rolling towards is as good as vs others you maybe need slightly different timing. Bleed is realo good vs them, procs for massive damage and super easy, too. And as Diogenes pointed out guard break for the kill.
I started a new character to try out a different build and decided to try parrying Gundyr on a whim. I'm not good at parrying but the first swing of the fight I did it perfectly and then just chumped him like the punk he is, what a great feeling. I'm strolling through the High Wall now just laughing at all the silly enemies who seemed so tough the first time around.
If the game is making you stressed friends I'd highly recommend you try making a new character as well, seeing just how far you've come on your journey is very cathartic.
The Boreal Valley seems to be where Dark Souls 3 says to you "ok hot shot, you think you've been impressive so far, we'll here's 3 Pontiff Knights. If you get by them, here's some Knights with flame staffs and a mob surrounding them.
As for the croc dog, once you hit the courtyard bonfire, it appears he moves to his later location (by the way, if I ever hear anyone complain about the amount of bonfires in Dark Souls 2 again I think I'll scream....there are places in Dark Souls 3 where you can SEE the next bonfire from where you're standing).
Comments
Speaking of progress if anyone wants multiplayer tomorrow I'd like to try a password session.
The Catacombs weren't too bad thus far (still waiting on the boss for the moment). The cloaked enemies down there do insane bleed damage, and it's highly advisable to take them out as quick as possible, but they are essentially skeleton ninjas. Other than that, the rest of it takes some trial and error, but it was slightly less than I was expecting. The pinwheels were easy to spot and no danger. A couple rats, some tedious slimes, and a couple balls that are ridiculously easy to avoid compared to the boulders in Sen's. I died my fair share, but ultimately, it's all a little same-ish.
In the first game, you could encounter the skeletons when you were not at all ready for them (in fact I'd venture to guess the majority of players did this, simply because the route to the Burg is not obvious). And the fact that RPGs over history have said "skeletons, pffft, whatever" (though this isn't true in all cases, and Dark Souls harkens back to those classics). But here, you are more than ready for them, though I am still confused as to how I was frequently parried by a headless skeleton with one arm....
reminds me of something I wanted to ask. What happens if I die, then equip a ring of sacrifice and die again.
Is my original puddle of souls still up, or are they gone too?
Swamp tip use dual daggers and quick step through rough terrain, makes life so much easier.
Also killed good ol Kirk and got the thorn set. Man I missed this armour in DS2, the fashion is real and roll killing has got to be the most fun thing in the game XD
No results for DS3 but it seems that would work in DS1.
https://polsy.org.uk/play/yt/?vurl=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DVf3Wj_d-aOE
This has spoilers for the first post-tutorial boss for anyone reading so be aware.
Or is this some item, disguising the real host
DS1&2 had a fairly free roll system. It didn't REALLY matter which direction you rolled, so long as your timing was right.
DS3 introduced a lot more attacks that have lingering hit boxes, so the direction you roll is far more important.
Normally I roll toward the guy and slightly to my right, but with this guy I found it much more effective to roll straight backwards, timing for his two strikes so that I was out of the hit box before the invincibility frames ran out. Then he was usually paused long enough to get a hit in.
I always roll under them, right when they try to bite, so rolling towards is as good as vs others you maybe need slightly different timing.
Bleed is realo good vs them, procs for massive damage and super easy, too.
And as Diogenes pointed out guard break for the kill.
If the game is making you stressed friends I'd highly recommend you try making a new character as well, seeing just how far you've come on your journey is very cathartic.
Yeah, after I had so much trouble with the pontiff I looked up how it was possible to solo him. In the video I found they just parried him twice.
As for the croc dog, once you hit the courtyard bonfire, it appears he moves to his later location (by the way, if I ever hear anyone complain about the amount of bonfires in Dark Souls 2 again I think I'll scream....there are places in Dark Souls 3 where you can SEE the next bonfire from where you're standing).